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Onechanbara Z2: Chaos
PlayStation 4
Sexy Zombie Time Fun Gets Old Quick
3/5 stars
The Onechanbara series has been around since 2004 but the first title to make it to North America was the 2006 Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad for the XBOX 360. The game series is knows for it's over-the-top and super bloody action (based partly on 70s exploitation films) as well as the sexy outfits the main characters sport while killing untold numbers of zombies and beast. In essence, you will either love it or hate it based on that premise alone. While I have know about the series for awhile, this was the first time I actually got around to playing it. I'm a huge fan of zombies and don't mind the fan service one bit - but the gimmick wears thin quickly.
Presentation: One thing the game gets right is the look. Stylish and sexy with plenty of blood - it certainly fits the bill. Granted, things get so hectic you won't have much time to admire the view - but don't worry, you can access the character profiles and check them out in extreme detail - you know, if you're into that kind of thing. I'm not. Nope. Not me. Cough.
Anyway, moving on - the music is about as frentic as the action - lots of J-pop and techno tracks sure to give most people a headache. But it truly fits the style of the game. One thing I was not a fan of was the voiceacitng. Just didn't like it - the localization was off and I just didn't think many of the voices fit the characters. While the character design was great - the levels themselves felt a bit bland. I also ran into one game-breaking bug that forced me to restart all over again (luckily is was a short way into the game, but still). Granted, if you're getting this game you probably know exactly why you're getting it and for that, it certainly lives up to the title.
Story: I'm not up on the whole Onechanbara story line - something to do with vampires and secret orders and some powerful clans. The main characters have often been on opposite sides in the past but are forced to team up in this game to take on a greater threat. Most of the games comic-book like cut-scenes are the girls bickering among themselves and talking about how terrible it is having to deal with each other. It's a game about scantily-glad woman fighting zombies (and other assorted monsters), the story is definitely not its strong point.
Gameplay: I don't usually like action beat-em-up games that overly rely on combos and such (see my inability to finish Bayonetta for which I just couldn't get used to) and Onechanbara, though it was quite short, still took me several sessions to get through simply because it was a bit too repetitive and, at times, overwhelmingly frustrating.
The game is simple enough - you control up to four characters at a time - Aya and her sister, Saki and the vampires Kagura and her sister Saaya - switching between them at will. Each Aya and Kagura are sword wielding whirlwinds while Saaya, despite her meek nature, wields a mean chainsaw and the diminutive Saki fights with her fists. You can customize each character with various accessories, weapon upgrades and new fighting moves. As the game goes on, each character also unlocks a secondary mode - Xstacy and Dare Drive modes - wherein you cause much more damage, but your health drains over time. Each characters has a health bar - as long as one entire section isn't drained completely, switching out means they will heal over time. You can also find statues in each of the levels that refill your health while allowing you to purchase various moves, accessories and the like on the fly.
Enemies range from simple zombies to huge Ogres (with plenty of bosses and mini-bosses thrown in). Even the simplest of them can only be taken down my multiple combos. While each character has their own style the moves are essentially the same - light and heavy attack, dashes, air attack and, when you get enough hits in - special attacks that cause much more damage (and even more when transformed). Each character also has a secondary attack they can use that is weak, but spammable and never gets bloodied. Yes, your main weapon can get too much blood on it and lose effectiveness, meaning you have to clean it from time to time. Also, there is an option in the menu to turn the red blood white instead. Hmmm, don't know why that option would be so popular.
One thing that annoyed me the most was that defeating certain bosses depends entirely on how well you saved up your power. And, should you die while fighting said boss, it doesn't reload the game based on where you were before - but rather, starts you over from scratch (as in, no power to transform at all) and renders some fights frustratingly hard - even on the easier difficulty. The game also gets incredibly repetitive - yes, even to someone who loves zombie games (and sexy women killing them) - there is only so much you can go through in one sitting. Overall, pretty to look at but not much in the gameplay department.
Replayability: It does have a lot to go back to - increased level of difficultis, plenty of challenges to master, new abilities and items to unlock and a bevy of in-game quests and trophies to unlock. Just remember, it's pretty much the same thing over and over again - so while there is a lot to do - it's a lot of the same thing - just more frustrating in my mind.
Overall: You want to kill zombies (and vampires and werewolves and various other beasts) while dressed (or should I say undressed) as scandalously as possible? This is the fanservice you have been looking for. But aside from that gimmick, there's not a lot else going on in this rather repetitive beat-em-up action game.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Replayability: 4/5
Overall (not an average): 3/5
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